Girls’ festival celebrated

The much-talked about FIFA Live Your Goals Girls’ festival was yesterday held at the Goal Project, Yundum.

The event’s concept first launched in May at Paradise Suites Hotel, began with a march past from Trust Bank’s Old Yundum office complex to the technical training centre drawing a huge following.

Live Your Goals is a FIFA dedicated development campaign aimed at inspiring girls and young women to get involved in football.

Participants between the ages of 14 and 25 comprising ladies from GFF leagues, school girls and SOS Children’s Village, donned colourful matching pink stripes in unison before marching to the centre to be taught football basics.

Aided by the quintet of appointed ambassador of Gambia female football, the girls were put through their paces some of whom were schooled how to kick the round ball for the first time.

Speaking earlier at the opening of the event GFF’s Alagie Nyassi said: ‘womenn football in the recent years has shown steady increase in number of women footballers’

This he said, ‘has promoted the GFF league competition to conform with the expansion of accommodating more teams in the new league structure’

He concludes: ‘..I call upon all our major partners who are the parents to encourage and support the involvement of their girl child in playing football –the global game as early as age six’

GFF vice president Martin Gomez also expressed similar remarks.

This programme, viewed as a welcome move, it is hoped, will encourage women’s participation and break apart the long standing culture of male domination in the sport.